Los Angeles County Bureau Of Family Support

State officials are examining Los Angeles County's long-criticized child support accounting practices after finding that inflated collection figures could jeopardize tens of millions of dollars in federal funds for California. Continuing deficiencies in Los Angeles County's child support program also have prompted the state to take the unprecedented step of hiring an outside consulting firm to recommend improvements. "L.A.'

State officials are examining Los Angeles County's long-criticized child support accounting practices after finding that inflated collection figures could jeopardize tens of millions of dollars in federal funds for California. Continuing deficiencies in Los Angeles County's child support program also have prompted the state to take the unprecedented step of hiring an outside consulting firm to recommend improvements. "L.A.'

District Atty. Ira Reiner dedicated a new regional office of the Bureau of Family Support in Encino Monday, part of a five-year plan to revamp the countywide child-support operation. The 40,000-square-foot office, which will handle child-support cases from Santa Monica to the Kern County line and from Glendale to the Ventura County border, is more than twice the size of the facility in Reseda that had been housing the bureau's regional operations.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $2.5-million boost in the county's contract with Lockheed Martin IMS to run the district attorney's child support computer. Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, whose office endorsed the increase, has received more than $15,000 in donations from Lockheed employees for his reelection campaign. The increase was opposed Tuesday by Supervisor Mike Antonovich, a perennial critic of the district attorney.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $2.5-million boost in the county's contract with Lockheed Martin IMS to run the district attorney's child support computer. Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, whose office endorsed the increase, has received more than $15,000 in donations from Lockheed employees for his reelection campaign. The increase was opposed Tuesday by Supervisor Mike Antonovich, a perennial critic of the district attorney.

Five months after declaring that Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti's child support unit needed a major overhaul, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a proposal to create an inspector general to investigate the operation. Supervisor Mike Antonovich's proposal drew such a lukewarm response from the board that he was unable to win a second for his motion. "The test of leadership is standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves," Antonovich said in a statement after the meeting.

The unveiling of Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti's long-awaited plan to improve his child support program was delayed Tuesday for another week to allow his office more time to finalize the proposal. Two months ago, responding to a request by the Board of Supervisors, Garcetti agreed to examine ways of improving his office's $120-million Bureau of Family Support Operations, which has been plagued by a multitude of problems, including a dismal collection rate.

A former employee of Los Angeles County's child support program said she provided a federal agency details about alleged wrongdoing in the program just days before the federal agency concluded there was no need for an investigation. Insisting on anonymity, the former employee told The Times that she spoke by phone Nov.

In a decision that has sparked controversy, the head of Los Angeles County's troubled child support program has been named that agency's prosecutor of the year by the Los Angeles County Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys. The selection of Wayne Doss by the association's 20-member executive board has angered some prosecutors not only because he is in top management, but because his Bureau of Family Support has been roundly criticized as the worst in California and perhaps the nation.

Despite assurances that it is doing everything possible to release child support money to families, reports issued Thursday suggest that Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti's office has made almost no progress, continuing to hold $21 million that should be distributed. In October, Garcetti's office said it was holding $18 million in child support it had already collected.

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti's reelection campaign received a total of $15,000 from 21 Lockheed Martin IMS employees, most of whom live out of state, a little more than a month before the prosecutor's office recommended that the Board of Supervisors pay the company an extra $2.5 million for running Los Angeles County's child support computer system. The supervisors are scheduled to act on Garcetti's recommendation Tuesday.

Five months after pledging to improve his troubled child support operation, Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti Wednesday appointed a former banking executive to oversee the unit. After three decades in banking, Steven K. Buster will become the chief operating officer for Garcetti's Bureau of Family Support Operations--which, with more than 1,600 employees, is the largest unit in the nation's largest district attorney's office. It is also ranked as the worst unit of its kind in the state.

In a decision that has sparked controversy, the head of Los Angeles County's troubled child support program has been named that agency's prosecutor of the year by the Los Angeles County Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys. The selection of Wayne Doss by the association's 20-member executive board has angered some prosecutors not only because he is in top management, but because his Bureau of Family Support has been roundly criticized as the worst in California and perhaps the nation.

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti's child support office has illegally held millions of dollars owed to thousands of families, according to a lawsuit filed Friday that seeks to have the funds distributed immediately. The lawsuit, filed by taxpayers advocate attorney Richard I. Fine, specifically targets funds that have been held--sometimes for years--by Garcetti's office, most often because it says it cannot locate the people entitled to the money.

Five months after declaring that Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti's child support unit needed a major overhaul, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a proposal to create an inspector general to investigate the operation. Supervisor Mike Antonovich's proposal drew such a lukewarm response from the board that he was unable to win a second for his motion. "The test of leadership is standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves," Antonovich said in a statement after the meeting.

Despite assurances that it is doing everything possible to release child support money to families, reports issued Thursday suggest that Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti's office has made almost no progress, continuing to hold $21 million that should be distributed. In October, Garcetti's office said it was holding $18 million in child support it had already collected.

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti's child support office has illegally held millions of dollars owed to thousands of families, according to a lawsuit filed Friday that seeks to have the funds distributed immediately. The lawsuit, filed by taxpayers advocate attorney Richard I. Fine, specifically targets funds that have been held--sometimes for years--by Garcetti's office, most often because it says it cannot locate the people entitled to the money.

A red-tape-slashing partnership between state and Los Angeles County officials has netted about $29 million in delinquent child support payments and attracted the attention of the President, officials announced Friday. Overall, six counties in California have joined a pilot program utilizing the state tax agency's database to collect monies from "deadbeat" parents. In those counties, a total of $32 million has been collected from more than 100,000 parents.

The unveiling of Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti's long-awaited plan to improve his child support program was delayed Tuesday for another week to allow his office more time to finalize the proposal. Two months ago, responding to a request by the Board of Supervisors, Garcetti agreed to examine ways of improving his office's $120-million Bureau of Family Support Operations, which has been plagued by a multitude of problems, including a dismal collection rate.

A former employee of Los Angeles County's child support program said she provided a federal agency details about alleged wrongdoing in the program just days before the federal agency concluded there was no need for an investigation. Insisting on anonymity, the former employee told The Times that she spoke by phone Nov.